[nikkuchan]

I'm not an English teacher; I work as a translator and interpreter in Japan, but I'm asked to visit preschools and kindergartens at least once a week, so I like simple games.

I decided to try this one time, and it was very successful, so I thought I'd share this little game to teach body parts with a little number practice thrown in:

All you need is 2 dice and a black/white board (or any large writing surface).

One die is a standard numbered die, while the other has various body parts on it (alternatively you could use cards if you wanted to have more than 6 options). Start by drawing a basic shape for the body's torso (I also draw the head but that's up to you); the kids will be drawing the body parts. Have each child come up one by one and throw both dice. That child must draw on the body the part that was rolled, with the amount of said part being the number of the second die (i.e. 3 arms or 6 eyes) (the children must of course say the number and body part that was rolled). Continue until the body is complete. You can get some really funny looking bodies and a lot of laughter from the kids.

Variation:

Have you or someone else roll the dice and have each student draw their own picture on a piece of paper. This is good as it moves faster and allows for better participation in larger classes, but the fun of everybody watching the body getting built is lost.

Anyway, that's it. It's nothing special, but it's good to keep young kids interested for a little while.